Before the opponent could charge, Lu Yuan and Ye Xing opened fire simultaneously.
Two 'Striker' rifles spewed flames at the same time, a dense rain of bullets constantly hitting sparks, preventing the Mechanical Desert Spider from advancing, but unable to cause it sufficient damage.
Couldn't break its armor!
Seeing that the effect wasn't good, Lu Yuan didn't hold the trigger down completely, deliberately saving 15 rounds.
Soon after, Jin Yi Ye Xing emptied his magazine, Lu Yuan reloaded and continued the suppression.
"Grenades!"
"Alright!"
Ye Xing reacted quickly; as soon as he finished speaking, the high-explosive grenade was already thrown out.
Boom!
The explosion was fierce, but the mechanical spider wasn't blown over; its body merely staggered.
"Keep going!"
The two didn't dare to delay, swiftly throwing out all eight grenades.
After a series of explosions, sand and rocks flew up, and the entire cave trembled.
"Retreat!"
Lu Yuan called out to Ye Xing and, taking advantage of the chaos, ran out of the cave mouth while changing magazines.
After running out a few hundred meters, he turned back and found that the Mechanical Desert Spider had not pursued them.
Dead?
Severely injured?
Or was its programming set not to leave its territory?
In any case, the situation was temporarily safe.
"Should we go back and take a look? It should be completely dead now, right?" Ye Xing stopped and suggested, "That big guy weighs at least a few hundred kilograms; dragging it back could yield a lot of metal for recycling."
Lu Yuan shook his head.
"No rush, maybe next time. What if it has more companions? Our current firepower is severely insufficient."
"Oh, that's true. The grenades are all used up, and the bullets don't seem to break its defense at all... What exactly is that ugly monster? How can there be such a strong enemy in the newbie village..."
Lu Yuan also wanted to know the answer to this question.
It seemed to be a type of autonomous robot, clearly a product of human technology, possessing limited artificial intelligence.
As for why it attacked humans and why it looked like a large Desert Spider, that remained unknown.
Furthermore, before attacking us, why did it first scan our "genetic purity"?
This point was truly a bit concerning.
Lu Yuan looked at Ye Xing and patted his shoulder.
"Getting more information about this mechanical creature is your next mission. Go for it."
"Oh... oh!" Ye Xing was momentarily stunned, then his heart filled with joy.
What did the Executive Officer's words mean?
It meant that the first phase of the mission was complete, and the subsequent mission chain had begun!
Awesome!
By the way, my heroic performance in the battle just now should significantly increase my prestige with the Executive Officer, right?
"Come here," Lu Yuan interrupted his daydreaming, "Help me drag this wreckage back. We're done for today."
"Yes!"
Returning to the camp, the two saw Shenceng Jubian from afar, standing under the spaceplane's wing with his hands behind his back, looking proud and arrogant.
"Respected Executive Officer!" Jubian came forward and bowed properly.
"We have a perfect solution for our power problem!"
Very efficient.
"Tell me your plan."
Jubian spread his palm and pointed to the surrounding Desert.
"In my opinion, this wasteland planet lacks everything except sunlight and sand."
"The main component of sand is silicon dioxide, and our 3D printer comes with the black technology of material decomposition. After consuming electricity, it can convert silicon dioxide into monocrystalline silicon and oxygen."
Monocrystalline silicon?
After hearing this word, Lu Yuan understood what the other party meant.
Before crossing over, he had participated in a Western development project at his workplace and was responsible for the procurement of monocrystalline silicon solar panels.
"You mean, using solar panels to generate electricity?"
"Exactly!" Jubian nodded vigorously. "Using sand plus a small amount of other raw materials, we can produce monocrystalline silicon solar panels."
"But I remember that the refining process of monocrystalline silicon is quite energy-intensive." Lu Yuan raised his doubt. "No matter how advanced 3D printing technology is, it probably can't violate the law of conservation of energy, right?"
"That is indeed true, Executive Officer. You are very knowledgeable!"
Jubian affirmed Lu Yuan's statement, not forgetting to flatter him along the way.
"I've done the calculations. Using our 3D printer to produce 1 square meter of monocrystalline silicon solar panel requires 10 kilowatt-hours of electricity. Although the machine is convenient to use because it shapes materials at the atomic level, its energy efficiency won't exceed that of a dedicated large-scale production line."
"Hmm... that's quite a bit. How much power do we still have in our batteries?"
"343 kilowatt-hours." Jubian immediately gave the precise number. "The life support system consumes 15 kilowatt-hours per day, the four hibernation pods consume 20 kilowatt-hours per day, and in addition, various devices that need charging, including the drone, consume an extra 2 kilowatt-hours per day, totaling 37 kilowatt-hours."
By this time tomorrow, the power reserve will only be 306 kilowatt-hours, a reduction of one-third compared to when they first crash-landed.
After 9 days, the power will run out, and after the power is cut off, they can only wait for death.
"But the good news is, the sunlight here is very abundant."
Jubian pointed to the big sun overhead.
"This is an F-type spectral star, larger and hotter than Earth's sun. Each square meter of solar panel can generate at least three kilowatt-hours of electricity per day."
"I suggest first consuming 200 kilowatt-hours of electricity to produce 20 square meters of solar panels. This way, not only can we meet our daily power needs, but we can also recharge the battery bank with at least 23 kilowatt-hours per day."
"As for the wires and circuit breakers, including any inverters that might be needed, the spaceplane comes with them, so there's no need to produce them separately."
"Okay, let's proceed with this plan," Lu Yuan confirmed the proposal. "Are there any difficulties with the engineering?"
"No difficulties! The 3D printer's interface has auxiliary design functions and comes with a basic blueprint library. The items I mentioned are all in the blueprint library. As long as you select the material and specifications of the product, even an ordinary person can complete simple engineering designs; it's very easy to get started."
That's good then.
The three immediately started working, picking up their entrenching tools, filling the 3D printer's material bin with enough sand, and then adding a small amount of metal wreckage fragments and carbon fiber trim panels removed from inside the spaceplane.
After pressing the switch, the machine began to decompose the materials, emitting a low and pleasant humming sound.
The progress bar showed that the solar panels would be ready in 1 hour. In less than a day, the production task for all 20 panels could be completed, initially resolving the power crisis!
"How about the other two matters? Can the spaceplane be repaired?"
While waiting for the production, Lu Yuan asked Jubian.
"All important equipment on board has been scanned, and the blueprints have also been uploaded to the 3D printer, including the Striker automatic rifle and combat uniform."
"Very good," Lu Yuan nodded. "Once we have surplus power, I plan to repair the engine as soon as possible."
"Then we must increase the intensity of resource collection," Jubian said, stroking his chin.
Judging by his tone, this matter was not easy.
"The main materials for the engine are nickel steel and vanadium-titanium alloy. Iron, nickel, and titanium are relatively common metal elements, but to make the engine resistant to high temperatures, a small amount of chromium, tungsten, and molybdenum must also be added to these alloys."
"They are all rare metals," Lu Yuan murmured.
"Yes, Executive Officer. If the composition of this planet is not much different from Earth, then the content of rare metals in nature is extremely low. Unless we can find underground mineral veins, it will be difficult to collect them."
"Then just go look for mineral veins, what's the big deal?" Jin Yi Ye Xing, who had been listening in, shrugged.
"You can definitely find them near the newbie village, otherwise, the game wouldn't be playable."
If this were really just a game, the developers certainly wouldn't let players get "stuck" in the early stages.
But the problem was, it wasn't...
How could mineral veins be so easy to find?
Engine wreckage cannot be 100% recycled, meaning there will definitely be a shortfall in rare metals. We must find a way to obtain them from external sources!
Lu Yuan couldn't help but think of the Mechanical Desert Spider he had encountered earlier.
This guy's body might contain rare metal elements. Even if the content is low, it's still higher than a random rock picked up by the roadside.
While he was contemplating, Caoyuan from the Soldier sequence returned from hunting.
He was covered in dust from his journey, having successfully completed his mission. He carried one Desert Spider on his back and held one in each hand.
A load of over 80 kilograms was just a trifle for this strong man.
Unlike Jubian and Ye Xing, Brother Caoyuan didn't show much emotion.
"Executive Officer, I have an important situation to report." He walked into the cargo bay and put down his prey.
"We are not alone on this planet. I found other humans!"
Oh?
This is big news!